Sprawl in WNY and Other Places

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Sprawl in WNY(and Other Places)

• Environmental Law 2
• Spring 2007

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At the macro level, the trend is very clear
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--and we still move out
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But these macro trends are driven by micro
decisions

• Town and Village boards, city councils
• Zoning boards and zoning appeals boards
• Developers
• Investors
• Consumers/voters

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Searching for Sprawl, Part 2A Tale of Two
Streets
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Niagara Falls Blvd. sprawl
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Elmwood Ave. Urbanity
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. . . And classic architecture
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Moral A Starbucks is AlwaysA Starbucks . . .
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But a Regal Cinema blends in with its environment.
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Yes, there are better things on Elmwood than on
Falls Blvd.
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Elmwood Avenue has many things that are new and
good.
Unfortunately, the new things are not good, and
the good things are not new.
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Similar things are happening in housing
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New structures follow a pattern language

• A core solution to a recurring problem, that can
  be varied in different settings

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What problems are the designers of these places
solving?

• Provide sufficient parking near the door (easy in
  and out)

• Satisfy the needs of overscheduled people (easily
  recognizable, no surprises, affordable, quick)

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The parking dilemma

• Stores dont work (and wont get financed)
  without a floor-to-area ratio of about 50 to 60
  percent

• The pedestrian-friendly feel of a place
  disappears if parking gets above about 9 percent

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Planning today is driven by the need to provide
habitat for the evolved descendents of these
critters
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Car habitat destroys habitat suitable for
pedestrians and other biota . . .
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. . . Which has been resisted by some urban
ecologists.
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. . . and were still backsliding on
transportation
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The development formula fleeing from taxes,
externalizing costs

• Step 1 Move off of/out of the infrastructure to
  lower your tax burden and escape problems
• Step 2 When the dark side of being off the
  infrastructure shows (road congestion, lack of
  adequate groundwater, overcrowded/underfunded
  schools, septic unable to handle the load)get
  everyone to pay for solutions!
• Step 3 Fight like hell to avoid any
  responsibility for supporting the abandoned urban
  infrastructure that now is running at deficit.

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This is beginning to sound familiar . . .
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What tools does the legal system give us to work
with?
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Zoning and Site Plan Review

• General zoning ordinance classes (R, C, I)
• Comprehensive Plans
• Overlay zones, special review districts
• Site plan approval
• Development exactions

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Some limitations in zoning

• Takings constraints (Nollan, Tigard)
• Variances, nonconforming use, rezonings
• Lack of comprehensive plans
• Lack of coordination
• Amateurs vs. experts
• Separation from environmental quality

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Environmental Impact Statements (SEQRA, NEPA)

• Better at tweaking design slightly or mitigating
  harm than at stopping bad ideas
• Funded by developer, staffed by consultants
• Cumulative impact assessment significantly
  underdeveloped
• State courts not very activist in policing strict
  compliance
• If nobody sues, nothing changes

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Other Legal and Market Tools

• Wetlands permits
• Bed and banks permits
• Yard and setback requirements
• CZMA review
• Floodplain construction requirements and review

• Conservation easements
• Transfer of development rights
• Public ownership (bargain, escheat, condemnation)
• Better private ownership (conservancies)

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The emerging Smart Growth toolkit

• Growth boundaries
• No subsidy for building off-infrastructure
• Design with Nature/Transit/Pedestrian Uses, or
  for community interaction (nodes, mixed uses)
• Brownfields rehabilitation
• Big investments in open space, mass transit
• Shared services, cooperative planning
• Fast-tracking preferred development

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An awkward question

• How much coercion or disincentive can we afford
  in WNY--an area thats starved for economic
  growth?